Wet flashover voltage improvement of the ceramics with dielectric barrier discharge

Surface modification techniques with plasma are widely investigated to improve the surface insulation capability of polymers under dry conditions,while the relationship between treatment method,surface physical and chemical properties,and wet flashover voltage is still unclear for inorganic ceramics.In this work,the surface insulation properties of ceramics under wet conditions are improved using nanosecond-pulsed dielectric barrier discharge with polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)as the precursor.The relationships between PDMS concentration and the water contact angle,dry and wet flashover voltages are obtained to acquire the optimal concentration.The surface charge dissipation test and surface physio-chemical property measurement with SEM,AFM,XPS are carried out to further explore the mechanism of surface insulation enhancement.The results show that film deposition with micron thickness and superhydrophobicity occurs at the PDMS concentration of 1.5%.The dry flashover voltage is increased by 14.6%due to the induction of deep traps,while the wet flashover voltage is increased by 66.7%.The gap between dry-wet flashover voltage is decreased by 62.3%compared with the untreated one due to the self-cleaning effect.

Preparation of Thermal Insulation Ceramics Using Felsic Tailings as Main Raw Material and Soda-ash Dregs as Flux

Low-cost thermal insulation porous ceramics with uniform pore diameter and low bulk density were prepared with soda-ash dregs and felsic tailings.We investigated the effect of temperature,foaming agent,fluxing agent,Al_(2)O_(3)and CaO content on the pore structure and crystal phase of porous ceramics.The effect of Ca^(2+)in soda-ash dregs on the preparation of quartz-feldspar based porous ceramics was studied.The results showed that the contribution of Ca^(2+)to the preparation of porous ceramics in this system was mainly to accelerate the Si-O bond fracture and reduce the sintering temperature at the initial stage of sintering,which destroyed the needle-like feldspar in the high temperature melt and reduced the melt viscosity,thus reduced the foaming resistance and promoted the porous products with uniform pore size distribution.The Ca^(2+)content on the high side can participate in the formation of crystals in sintering.The generated needle-like diopside and augite,which have small length-diameter ratio,will negligibly change in the viscosity of melt at high temperatures,and their inhibition effect on pores is not as good as that of feldspar with large length-diameter ratio,resulting in the merger and collapse of pores.But the increase of diopside and augite can improve the compressive strength of porous products to some extent.Porous ceramic products containing needle-like feldspar phase can be prepared by using two kinds of solid waste,which can improve the compressive strength of the products and reduce the raw material cost and energy consumption while comprehensively utilizing the double solid waste.The optimal product has a bulk density of 0.45 g/cm^(3),a compressive strength of 3.17 MPa,and a thermal conductivity of 0.11 W/(m·K).

Study of Leakage Current Behaviour on Artificially Polluted Surface of Ceramic Insulator

This paper presents the results of the study concerning to the leakagecurrent behaviour on artificially polluted ceramic insulator surface. From the present study it wasobserved that there is a reasonably well-defined inception of current i.e. scintillations at afinite voltage, The corresponding voltages for extinction of the current are in the range of 0.8 kVto 2.1 kV. Obviously, the dry band formed in the immediate vicinity of the pin prevents smoothcurrent flow as the voltage rises from zero. Only when the voltage is adequate it causes a flashoverof the dry band and current starts flowing. As is common in similar current extinction phenomena,here also, the extinction voltages are significantly lower than the inception voltages. Further, thevoltage-current curves invariably show hysteresis - the leakage currents are lower in the reducingportion of the voltage. This is obviously due to drying of the wet pollutant layer therebyincreasing its resistance. It is believed that this is the first time that such a directquantitative evidence of drying in individual half cycles is experimentally visualized.

Thermal Insulation Materials of Alumina Based Porous Ceramics

Significant energy saving effects can be made through the improvement of furnace refractories,especially the thermal insulation refractories. In this study,the preparation and the application of different alumina based porous ceramics were briefly introduced. Alumina based porous ceramics were prepared combined foaming method with gelcasting,sol- gel process or cement curing process. The influences of different preparation methods on the sintering shrinkage, porosity, phase composition, microstructure, compressive strength and thermal conductivity were discussed. Alumina based porous ceramics with relatively high strength and low thermal conductivity could be obtained through the above mentioned methods. Compared with the traditional lining materials,about 40% energy could be saved when they were used as the furnace wall.

Resistance Measurements and Interpretations Relating to Flashover of Artificially Contaminated Ceramic Insulator Strings

The flashover of insulator strings occurring at normal working voltages undercontaminated/polluted conditions, obviously deserves serious consideration. Though much researchhas been gone into pollution-induced flashover phenomena but grey areas still exist in ourknowledge. In the present experimental study the breakdown (flashover) voltages across gaps oninsulator top surfaces and gaps between sheds (on the underside of an insulator), also the flashoverstudies on a single unit and a 3-unit insulator strings were carried out. An attempt has been madeto correlate the values obtained for all the cases. From the present investigation it was found thatresistance measurement of individual units of a polluted 3-unit string before and after flashoverindicates that strongly differing resistances could be the cause of flashover of ceramic discinsulator strings.

Optimization of Compressed Ceramics Fiber Insulating Layers

Compressed thin layers of ceramic fiber insulation are used as high temperature insulating layers as well as mechanical support for catalyst coated ceramic monoliths in automotive emission control devices. Minimization of energy losses, choice of material and thickness of com- pressed insulating layer are based on knowledge of their thermal physical properties. Currently, consistent meas- urements of materials in a compressed state, as they would be in emission control applications, are absent due to the absence of suitable methods for s,wh tests. A test method was developed for measurement of the thermal conductivity of compressed thin fiber layers. This paper summarizes the results of thermal conductivity and diffu- sivity measurements of 27 compressed fiber alumina -sili- ca -vermiculite materials in the range of 200 -950℃. Thermal physical properties as a function of temperature, density/mechanical pressure, thickness and composition of insulating layers are presented. The whole set of exper- imental data is generalized on 3D surface plots and de- scribed by polynomial functions. The possible heat trans- fer mechanisms governing apparent thermal conductivity of pressed insulation layers are discussed.

Impact Resistance of Spark Plug’s Ceramic Insulator During Ultra-high-Pressure Combustion Under Deto-Knock Conditions

The ceramic insulators of spark plugs in gasoline engines are especially prone to damage when deto-knock occurs.To under-stand the damage process and mechanism,the present work investigated the impact resistance of ceramic insulators using detonation waves as impact sources.A test device that generates detonation waves was developed,representing a novel means of evaluating the knock resistance of ceramic insulators.Various impact types and detonation intensities were employed,and detonation initiation and propagation at peak pressures greater than 100 MPa were assessed using synchronous high-speed direct photography and pressure measurements.The test results demonstrate that ceramic insulators tend to break at the base of the breathing chamber when damaged by a single high peak pressure detonation wave impact.In contrast,multiple low pressure impacts eventually break the insulator into multiple fragments.The data also show that the positioning of a ground electrode upstream of the ceramic insulator greatly increases the resistance of the ceramic to the detonation impact.A two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation coupled with a chemical kinetics analysis demonstrated that this improved resistance can be ascribed to a reduced peak pressure that appears after the detonation wave diffracts from the electrode prior to contacting the ceramic insulator.